Motivation in Employee Retention

[pic 1][pic 2]1.0 Preamble  

Ligonier Steel Corporation is located in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. It’s a small plant with 250 employees. Tom Fry is the plant manager. At the time, it is observed that the firm faced productivity growth rate issues –resulting to stagnation for 2.5 years. This necessitated concerns from Mr Tom Fry, the plant manager, in intervening motivation as factor of enhancing performance at the firm.

From the case, it is observed;

1. Sticky Issues –Management Attention

• No employee interactions ; and no recognition for staff ideas input

1. Management Interventions –New Program

• Reward scheme for performance
• Establishing quotas targets as performance management tool
• Set up bonus for exceeding quota targets – enhances productivity gains
• Employees interactions promoted
• Recognitions for individual accomplishments
• Public raise for notable productivity suggestions
• Publishing/ display of employee of  the month
• Employees retraining and or college education opportunities
• Set up of career development plans – promote employee growth potentials
• Facilitate conducive work place environments – Drive job satisfaction

Q’n 1.0 Description of relevant/applicable motivation theory to the case  

*Content theory of Motivation (Needs)

It focuses on the factors within a person that energize, direct, sustain and stop behavior. They address the specific needs that motivate people- it explains why human needs change with time. Content theory includes the work of David McClelland, Abraham Maslow, Hertzberg Mintzberg and Alderfer’s.

1. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory

Abraham Maslow defined need as physiological or psychological deficiency that a person feels the compulsion to satisfy. In his theory, Maslow identified five levels of human needs.

1. Higher level Needs

• Self-actualization needs: including creative and challenging work, participation in decision making, job flexibility and autonomy.
• Esteem needs: including responsibility of an important job, promotion to higher job status as well as praise and recognition from the boss.

1. Lower level needs

• Social Needs: including friendly co-workers, interaction with customers and pleasant supervisor
• Safety needs: including safe working conditions, job security and physical comfort on the job
• Physiological needs: including base compensation and benefits, rest and refreshment, breaks as well as reasonable work hours.

1. Hertzberg’s two-factor Theory

Frederick Hertzberg offers another framework for understanding the motivational implications of work environments. In his two-factor theory, Hertzberg identifies two sets of factors that impact motivation in the workplace;

• Hygiene factors including salary, job security, working conditions, organizational policies and technical quality of supervision. Although these factors do not motivate employees, they can cause dissatisfaction if they are missing.
• Satisfiers or Motivators include such things as responsibility, achievement, growth opportunities and feelings of recognition, and are the key to job satisfaction and motivation. For instance, managers can find out what people really do in their jobs and make improvements, thus increasing job satisfaction and performance.

Therefore, following Hertzberg’s two-factor theory, managers need to ensure that hygiene factors are adequate and then build satisfiers into jobs.

1. Alderfer’s ERG Theory

Clayton Alderfer’s ERG (Existence, Relatedness and Growth Theory) is built upon Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. He infact collapses Maslow’s five levels of needs into three categories.

• Existence needs –are desires for physiological and material well-being. (In terms of Maslow’s model, existence needs include physiological and safety needs)
• Relatedness needs- are desires for satisfying interpersonal relationships. (In terms of Maslow’s model, relatedness corresponds to social needs)
• Growth needs- are desires for continued psychological growth and development. (In terms of Maslow’s model, growth needs include esteem and self-realization needs)

1. McClelland’s Acquired Needs Theory

David McClelland’s acquired needs theory recognizes that everyone prioritizes needs differently. He also believes that individuals are not born with these needs, but that they actually learned through life experiences. McClelland identifies three specific needs:

• Need for achievement is the drive to excel
• Need for power is the desire to cause others to behave in a way that they would not have behaved otherwise.
• Need for affiliation is the desire for friendly, close interpersonal relationships and conflict avoidance.

Higher achievers differentiate themselves from others by their desire to do things better. These individuals are strongly motivated by job situations with personal responsibility, feedback and an intermediate degree of risk.

In addition, high achievers often exhibit the following behaviors: